Rewritten Preface
I was raised in a cushioned corner of Lake Michigan, where the never-ending gray winters were interrupted by a blindingly colorful summer. This small town was where I lived basically my entire life, a world away from all the terrors of the big bad city meant to shield us from any harm. If anything can describe my background, it’s the name my mother gave me: Shannon Darby Altergott. A name that practically screams Irish-German heritage and then proceeds to shove it in your face. My town was the exact same way. We were all cookie cutter Irish-Catholic kids that attended the same Irish-Catholic middle school and habitually went to the same Irish-Catholic church every Sunday. My friends and I lived blissfully unaware of this repeated uniformity until we reached our angsty teen years, craving individuality. I suppose that’s the reason we all left our small town, scattering ourselves to the far reaches of the States. We’re all looking for something that defines us, something we can dedicate the rest of our lives to. I’m not sure if I’ll find that here in Georgia, but I believe that it’s a good place to start.
I was raised in a cushioned corner of Lake Michigan, where the never-ending gray winters were interrupted by a blindingly colorful summer. This small town was where I lived basically my entire life, a world away from all the terrors of the big bad city meant to shield us from any harm. If anything can describe my background, it’s the name my mother gave me: Shannon Darby Altergott. A name that practically screams Irish-German heritage and then proceeds to shove it in your face. My town was the exact same way. We were all cookie cutter Irish-Catholic kids that attended the same Irish-Catholic middle school and habitually went to the same Irish-Catholic church every Sunday. My friends and I lived blissfully unaware of this repeated uniformity until we reached our angsty teen years, craving individuality. I suppose that’s the reason we all left our small town, scattering ourselves to the far reaches of the States. We’re all looking for something that defines us, something we can dedicate the rest of our lives to. I’m not sure if I’ll find that here in Georgia, but I believe that it’s a good place to start.